Saturday September 16, 2023
Mogadishu (HOL) - Security forces seized a car filled with explosives during a security operation in Mogadishu's Darussalam village on Friday night.
Police spokesperson Sadik Aden Ali announced at a press conference in Mogadishu on Saturday that they had apprehended the driver of the Toyota Land Cruiser, and investigations are currently underway.
"The car had two different license plates attached, and al Shabab had intended to attack the people, but the Darussalam authorities and security forces thwarted their plans," he added.
This car bomb seizure comes hours after the president of Somalia's Galmudug regional state, Ahmed QorQor, escaped a suicide bombing in Las-Ga'amey, a small village in the Mudug region. But two federal lawmakers were wounded in the attack.
Lawmaker Abdisalam Haji Dhabancad said he and Senator Abdi Hassan Qaybdid sustained minor injuries when pieces of the wall fell on them after the blast.
Security forces in the capital have been on high alert since President Hassan Sheikh Mahamud declared a "total war" against the group. Massive anti-al Shabab operations are underway in the country's central regions.